Bandai has a new action figure
line for 2005, and it's name is D.I.C.E.,
which stands for DNA INTEGRATED CYBERNETIC ENTERPRISES. According to
the
description on the package back, "DICE is a large organization
established to deal with
problems in the Sarbylion galaxy. DICE F-99 is the only unit comprised
entirely of children. When a problem arises, DICE is called to the
rescue. And when
their special training and their skills aren't enough, they rely on
their
vehicles, which can transform from Vehicle Mode to Dino Mode to help
get
the job
done! Always on call, always on alert - DICE is ready for action!"

The toys started popping
up right after Christmas, most frequently found
at
Target. The most readily available toys in the series are the 4.5"
armored
action figures. There's six of them, named Jet, Tak, Robert, Marco,
Sam,
and
Phantom Knight.

Defining the team as "children'
is a bit of a stretch, really. They're
all
around 15 years old except one who's 11. Jet's full name is Jet Siegel,
whom I
believe is the central character of the concept. He's described on a
trading
card that comes with the toy as "the hot-headed pilot of the Motoraptor,
Jet
lives for action and his fierce competitive streak often leads to
friction with
his teammates." He also reportedly has a short temper, and yet
manages to
have
a strong sense of right and wrong. His armor is mostly primary colors,
silver
with red and blue.

Tak is Tak Carter, another
15 year old. Described as "Pilot of the
Dimetrover
and Captain of the DICE F-99 Fortress, a well-respected and capable
leader."
He reportedly retains his calm under pressure, and as the "oldest"
although by
how much one can only speculate, the others tend to look up to him as
an
older brother. His armor is predominantly yellow.

Robert is Robert Clapice,
described as the "pretty-boy pilot of the
Hoverptera and always concerned about his looks". His is also the
only
vehicle that can
fly. His armor is mostly a bluish silver with dark blue details.

Marco is Marco Rocca, the
pilot of the Monocrawler and apparently a
perpetual
complainer. He's described as the tallest member of the team, so none
of
the
vehicle cockpits quite fit him, apparently his primary complaint. His
armor is
mostly metallic blue with dark red trim.

And Sam is Sam N'Dool, the
11-year old youngster on the team. He's
described
as "the cheerful pilot of the Paratricar" (my spell check
is having fits,
yes...), and is also listed as a "true genius and talented inventor."
His
armor is
mostly metallic green, and along with the yellow armor, is one of two
real
standouts in the collection, visually.

The figures are -- interesting.
The basic designs are decent enough, but
the
structure of the figures is a little strange. Of particular note is
how
the
legs are attached. There's this strange, painfully visible gap between
the waist
and the top of the legs that results in a figure that just doesn't work
as an
armored human. While it is worth noting that the larger-scale toys
indicate
that these armored suits are a good bit larger than their human
operators,
although certainly nowhere near as proportionately large as, for example,
a
Gundam, which has a full cockpit in the chest, the look of the leg
assembly on these
smaller figures still doesn't allow for that.

Articulation is a little
unusual, as well. These figures all have a very
well
articulated head, as well as arms, elbows, wrists, legs, knees, and
ankles.
Now, that's not too bad, but it could've (and arguably should've) been
a
little
better. These figures could really have used waist and upper swivel
arm
articulation, and perhaps a swivel at the knees, as well. It's like
some
parts of
the figure are much better articulated than others. The ankles are
ball-and-socket articulated, but there's no swivel arm?

I also have to say that I
think Bandai made these toys as cheaply as
possible. A quick study of these five armored figures shows that the
only
difference
between any of them -- color schemes notwithstanding -- are the heads,
shoulder
pads, and front torsos. Their backs, arms, and legs are all identical.
The
larger toys are, for the most part, astoundingly unimpressive.

Concept-wise, I have to say
that I think the whole thing is totally
uninspired and unimaginative. You look at the toys, and the vehicles,
and
there's just
nothing new here. It's like someone wanted to come up with a great recipe
for
chicken soup, and their idea of adding chicken was to have the bird
walk
through the kitchen. I can look at this and see take-offs on about three
previous
versions of Power Rangers, with a bit of Zoids, M.A.S.K, Zodiac Knights,
and
Exo-Squad thrown in for good measure.

There are also figures some
of these characters in their non-armored
state,
and most of them look pretty silly. Jet is dressed in what one magazine
described as "hobo chic". That's all we need -- fashionable
bums.

Bandai's put a lot of enthusiasm
(if not much else) into this concept.
One of
their representatives gushed about it so much in a recent issue of
ToyFare
that he'd probably be better off getting a job in politics. So far,
though, it
doesn't seem to be working. One online contact of mine reported that
a
Target
in his area actually has already clearanced the toys after not selling
a
single
one for an entire month. Granted Target tends to be merciless with its
clearances, but another contact reported similar poor sales in his area.
Around
here, the larger toys have had their prices reduced, but not clearanced
-- yet.

D.I.C.E. does have an animated
series coming up, possibly already airing
by
the time this review actually is posted. Whether that helps the toys,
I
honestly don't know. Ultimately, I really find myself believing that
there just isn't
enough innovation and imagination here to allow this concept to work
in
any
format. While the basic armored figures are decent enough, I don't see
a
single
thing about D.I.C.E. to really make it stand out, either on the toy
store
shelves or on television.

Some have argued that Bandai
threw Gundam out of the United States
because of
their enthusiasm for D.I.C.E. Granted, Gundam was already hurting because
of
the Battle-Scarred and SD toys cluttering the shelves. That doesn't
mean
there
isn't a certain validity to the speculation, though, especially since
Gundam
toys are continuing in Japan, and to the best of my knowledge, D.I.C.E.
isn't
headed over there. But I find myself wondering if Bandai may well have
to
bring Gundam back to the United States just to maintain some of that
oh-so-valuable shelf space in the toy departments that the companies
compete over so much.

Either that, or Bandai may
find their American market reduced to Power
Rangers and not much else. Bandai is taking a big chance with this roll
of the
D.I.C.E. -- and I don't like the odds.